It was the first time for a high court to acknowledge the state's responsibility for the incident in about 30 similar lawsuits filed across
The amount the
In line with the 2017 ruling by the
The two other points were whether countermeasures could have been implemented to prevent a disaster, and whether the compensation levels outlined by the government were sufficient.
The plaintiffs had sought monthly compensation payments of around
The state, meanwhile, argued it was impossible to predict the tsunami and prevent the subsequent disaster.
In the district court ruling, the government and
It ruled that the two should have been able to foresee the risks of a maximum 15.7-meter-high wave, based on a quake assessment issued in 2002, and that the disaster could have been prevented if the state had instructed the operator to implement measures that year.
The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck northeastern
Around 55,000 people remained evacuated both within and outside Fukushima Prefecture as of the end of August.
==Kyodo
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